Arsenal v Fulham wound up being a much more difficult contest for the hosts than expected.
The Gunners beat their fellow Londoners 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening.
In doing so, Arsenal maintained their 100 percent start to the Premier League season, with four victories from a possible four.
Gabriel Magalhaes atoned for his earlier error by scoring a late winner for Mikel Arteta’s side.
There was a party atmosphere generated inside the North Londoners’ stadium as a result of the come-from-behind victory, with Aleksandar Mitrovic firing the Cottagers ahead.
And after the game, nobody looked happier than the Arsenal manager himself.
The Spaniard was spotted beaming from ear to ear as he entered the pitch at full time and congratulated his players, and Richard Keys has slammed the Gunners boss, labelling him ‘extremely irritating’.
He said on BeIN Sport: “Look at the manager. You’re joking! They’re over celebrating this. It’s a 2-1 win against newly promoted Fulham. I don’t understand this. They’ve won nothing. I can’t hide the fact I find him extremely irritating, waving his arms around like a windmill for 90 minutes, as if anybody can hear him.”
Keys is right – Arsenal have won nothing.
But morale is a massive part of football and it’s difficult to win games without it.
So even though they aren’t exactly beating England’s elite, having won against Crystal Palace, Leicester, Bournemouth and Fulham this season, they are accumulating a feel-good factor and that alone makes them a dangerous proposition.
In any case, who cares?
Arteta has taken a hammering from the media regularly throughout his two-and-a-half year spell at the Emirates, so enjoying victories when they come is important, regardless who they’re against.
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